国内英语新闻:Workers rush to retrieve 3,000 chemical-filled barrels in NE China river

The 1,900-km-long Songhua River, the largest tributary of the Heilongjiang River which lies between China and Russia, is the source for drinking water for cities in Jilin and Heilongjiang.

A spokesman for Jilin city's water affairs department said tap water supplies in the city were cut Wednesday around noon, but he denied the suspension was due to fears of chemical contamination.

Rather, he said supplies were cut due to "maintenance of water supply facilities."

Water supplies in the city's urban area had "basically" resumed, said the spokesman.

A resident surnamed Zhang in Fengdian Garden of Jilin's Chuanying District told Xinhua that water supplies in his community had resumed Thursday morning and the bottled water he stored Wednesday had not been used.

Environmental workers are monitoring water quality around the clock at seven stations, officials said.

The monitoring results offered by the provincial environmental protection department have shown that "a very small quantity" of Hexamethyl disiloxane was found in the water.

"The amount of the chemical in the river can be negligible," said Sun Lili, adding that such small amounts posed no threat to area residents.

The results have also shown the pH reading in the river water remains within the normal range.